Think about getting on a train, what’s the worst thing that can happen other than missing the train itself? Once you’re on the train you’re all set. Today I had a unique experience: We got on the train from Augsburg to Munich, but we got off and missed the train. “Wait for a second, what?” you might want to ask.
Munich, t
he well-known German city that attracts tourists from all over the world. Today we were given a day to walk around the city since it is only about 40 minutes away from Augsburg by train. Like I said earlier, we boarded the train to Munich just in time. But it was crowded, when the train stopped at the next stop, someone said there are more spaces in a couple cabins in the front. So, half of us got off the train and started walking towards the front cabins. We opened the door, it was packed, worse than where we were. Then it was like lignin struck that everyone started noticing we made a mistake, a couple of us sprinted back to the cabin we were but the door wouldn’t open, then the one after, then the one after. Finally, we just stood there and watched the train slowly pulled away. Not going to lie it was pretty funny. So that was the end of that story, we got on the next train and met up with the group that stayed on the train and got to Munich safely.
Open space, mountains of people, modern buildings with a little medieval style, people playing all kinds of music instruments on side streets, expensive stores. My first impression of Munich was much greater than any of the places we have visited. It’s lively and busy, but beautiful and relaxed at the same time. The first thing that happened was a city tour, the tour guide explained that Munich is the biggest and most populated and famous German city behind Berlin. The living cost here can be high depending on where you live. I am not surprised, while we were walking around all we saw was expensive stores that you can only see in Manhattan or Hawaii. The city was livelier than usual because the Munich soccer team have a game today, and many fans came from all over the place to gather here to drink and get ready to watch the game. It was awesome, from 80-year-old grandpas to kids as young as 3 or 4 years old, like a big family, all wearing the same jersey, celebrating the same thing.
After the tour, we had a couple hours of free time. First, we went to Hofbrauhaus, a famous German beer maker, for lunch. The place was huge since this is a must-stop for all tourists. Of course, the food was fantastic as well. I got a steak covered with special made German sauce. Yum Yum, that’s all I’m going to say. Then the big group split up. I walked around with Alan and Steve. Lemon and Yogurt Mango flavored ice-cream caught my heart, I also spent a lot of money buying those handmade wooden souvenirs for my friends and family. We walked back to the state where there were pictures and posters of Michael Jackson, with flowers next to them. It was a little weird because this is not a statue of Michael Jackson, but people come here to pay their respect to him. Although, the tour guide did say that when Michael Jackson visited Munich, he lived in the hotel right across from where the statue was standing, and that could be the reason why. We also came across with a Porche store and a cool store with little interesting things. In the Porche store, we were just walking around and amazed at how expensive the things were. We were kicked out of the store by the manager within 10 minutes, understandable but also rude. The other store was the highlight of the day. It had little cool things related to science. We saw a levitating light bulb that lit up, and a levitating plant that is spinning in the air. I was freaking out repeatedly saying “This is so cool.” Well, it was. I would’ve bought it if it’s not 200 euros.
Another highlight of this day was hearing Ralph Kiefer’s music. It was about 20 minutes before meeting time and we were on our way back to the meeting point. Then I heard a piano, in combination with the base. It was beautiful, makes you want to tap your feet and clap your hand along with the music. I was so tempted to buy a CD but realized I probably won’t use a CD player to listen to music. At the end of his performance, people were clapping and cheering, it was truly a memory I will never forget. In fact, I and Steve tried to look up his music on the website afterward, he has his own website and YouTube channel, and his name is Ralph Kiefer.
The day ended with a dinner at a burger place in Munich, then we went back to Augsburg. On the train back, I was just listening to Ralph Kiefer’s music, “He’s gonna be a hit” I kept telling Steve.